A standardized mounting system for attaching window hardware and accessory options to sashes and frames of window assemblies features elongated channels referred to as “Euro-Grooves”. The channels have a T-shaped cross section, comprising a channel bottom and two sidewalls with overhanging rails. Hardware can be slid along the channels to desired positions and anchored to the overhanging rails of the sidewalls.
Although many benefits accrue from such standardized mounting systems, the channels can impose clearance limitations, particularly for linkages that support pivotal and translational motions of casement windows. For example, such channels can provide strong anchors for securing conventional 4-bar linkages to mating sashes and frames of casement windows, but the opposing channels between the sashes and frames can limit the space available for accommodating a stack height of the linkages.
The clearance problem can sometimes be resolved by reducing the thickness of individual bars of the linkages so that the collective stack height of the bars matches the available space. However, this solution is not workable for some heavy-duty applications, where the demands on the linkages are severe. In such instances, the removal of one or more of the channels may be needed to establish the required space.